I just bought a 2 lb brick of it last week to try. I have a few scions I have not put on my trees and thought I would try it with using the Plastilina clay.
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Dont cover the scions like i did in my one test with Plastilina just cover the top of the rootstock like i did above. Use parafilm below the clay. It is an amazing trick of the trade! If you zoom in on the one above it is already popping out green growth. Looks very promising using dormant scion wood!
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This graft covered in Plastilina is not showing any life yet and today in June 27th. 11 days is getting close to when it should be showing life if it is going to. These are green wood cutting as well so everything is working against this one.
I grafted this Pink Pearl apple tree earlier in the year with Firecracker on the top. About a week and a half ago I grafted Honeycrisp, Purple Spartan, Gala, and Sweet Sixteen on the lower limbs because I had scion wood still left. They are all starting to break through the parafilm now. I will probably still do some more grafting shortly if the scion wood I have is still looking good. This is the latest in the year I have ever grafted before. I guess I’ll switch to bud grafting pretty soon. I’m very happy with my grafting success this year and I owe it all to the great info I’ve learned from this forum in the last year.
Many thanks to all who’ve built and contributed to this great knowledge base.
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Great advice. I will just cover the top of the grafted area and NOT the while scion. I will use the parafilm on the scions as well. I grafted 4 about a two weeks ago without parafilm all the way up and so far I have not seen any greening coming out. I may have messed up but I am going to add parafilm to them tomorrow. It will not hurt and it they do not take it may have been just because of that. The things we learn, huh?
I just bought some wider parafilm. The one I had is very narrow. The one I bought is about 1" wide the other one was about 1/4" wide. A pain to use.
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Absolutely but we learn more every day and share it! Parafilm is a must to keep them from drying out here.
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Thanks @clarkinks for the experiments and info.
I’ll try this next year. One thing I note is the parafilm I see a lot of folks use online is much cloudier in color (I assume higher wax content) than the one I got. I wonder if any US growers have a link to one they use.
Thanks
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There are a few more methods i will post shortly. Buy a box or 2 at a time myself which is 12 rolls of 1/2" for $23.50. I have 4 or 5 rolls left over out of 2 boxes and the rolls i had on hand. Grafting - Organic Growers Supply
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Our weather is very hot and as bad as it sounds it only is bad if your not prepared. Build some tinfoil hats for some of the persimmon grafts. Had a host of birds keeping me company while i grafted.
This is a very important late season graft below. Clearly the graft failed due to heat. The portion closest to the clay took off and grew saving the graft. That is why i graft a low bud when i can. Sometimes a graft gets ripped out instead of broke off or in this case the 95 degree days get to it. This graft literally got cooked.
Back to persimmons and not pears.
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I have use aluminum foil, shiny side out and also tin cans on a support stick next to the graft.
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What sort of oil free materials are you considering? I’m really interested in this process.
I was recently reading about (think i saw a YT vid on it too) of someone using psyllium husk powder (metamucil w/o the sugar) to coat cutting ends after applying rooting hormone as when wetted it provides a protected aqueous shield to the rooting area.
Wonder if a coat of psyllium at the graft site, with clay over it, would serve the same purpose.
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I’ve got a few large containers of this: Air Dry Clay | BLICK Art Materials
it will not last forever outdoors, as water will eventually wear it down. but it can last months before that happens, which means it’ll get through a season. you can use wood glue or Elmer’s on the outside to give it a little longer. you would want to use it during a dry week, it takes up to 48 hours to dry fully. but then it’s impermeable, will not melt. a thicker layer around the graft area/exposed base of a graft is what I’m thinking, not using it over the scion. wrapping the scion in parafilm then enclosing over that with some of this.
there’s no oils or wax in it at all. I have enough to sculpt larger art pieces and can spare enough to do some grafting with it.
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Brand new grafts look great using only parafilm with plastic tape underneath. These are simple cleft grafts late in the season. Notice there is no sealant material to seap into the graft union. Sealants like tar and wax can prevent callous formation between scion and rootstock in warm climates like mine.
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Interesting material, thanks.
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The resident squirrel has damaged my Pakistan mulberry, can this tree be saved. Should I graft this broken branch to something.
